Cash register



6, 1940. w. 4;. PASINSKI 2,268,050

CASH REGISTER- Filtidune 10,1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR lMa'ller JBasinski ATTORNEYS y 6, 1940. w. .1. PASINSKI 2,208,050

CASH REGISTER Filed-June 10, 193'! a Sheets-Sheet 2 3 myENToR Wll'er J.Resins/11 ATTORNEYS y 6, 1940. w. J. PASINSKI 2,208,050

CASH REGISTER Filed June 10, 1937 3 Shoots-Shoot 3 Fig. 4.

. INVENTOR M Alter J Psmsla ATTORNEYS Patented July 16, 1940 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE CASH REGISTER Application June 10,1937, Serial N0.14'l,43i

laims.

This invention relates to cash registers. It is concerned with theprinting mechanism of such machines and is primarily directed to animproved and simplified construction for preventing rebound of theprinting hammer mechanism.

The printing mechanism of cash registers and calculating machinesordinarily includes a printing hammer that is cooked and fired to makeprinting impressions. Normally, this hammer is some distance away fromthe paper so as to enable the paper to be line spaced, or. otherwisemoved or removed without interference from the printing hammer. when thehammer is fired, it moves past its normal position to a printinposition, from which it is immediately returned. In this operation thereis a strong tendency for the hammer to rock or rebound so as to restrikethe type with a resulting double print or smudge that is undesirable.The present invention is directed to overcoming this difliculty.

The object of the invention is to provide an improved printing mechanismfor cash registers with a very simple and effective means for preventingrebound of the printing hammer.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparenthereinafter by reference to the annexed specification and drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a right side sectional elevation of a cash register showingthe printing hammer and its associated mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the printing hammer mechanismassociated with the printing wheels of the machine;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged left side elevational view of some of theessential elements of the printing hammer mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a portion of a paper strip illustrating samples of the workfor both item and total printing;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section of the printing hammermechanism with the printing hammer in raised position during the itemprinting operation; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged right side elevational view of the printing wheelsand the printing hammer showing the several positions of the printinghammer including printing, normal and raised for item printing andraised for total printing operations.

The invention is shown applied to a Burroughs cash register of the typeillustrated in Pasinski No. 2,070,059, February 9, 1937, with a printingmechanism of the type disclosed in my copending applications Serial Nos.147,429 and 147,430, both filed June 10, 1937. The general features ofthe cash register will be described only very briefly, as it is notnecessary to understand all the details of the machine in order tounderstand the present invention. Likewise, the general features of theprinting mechanism will be described-only suiliciently to enable thepresent invention to be understood, the several novel features of saidprinting mechanism being the subject matter of said copendingapplications.

The various mechanisms of the machine are housed within a casing l0(Fig. 1) having an indicator housing I! at its top. The machine isoperated in item-entering operations by amount keys ll (Fig. 1) mountedon the ends of key levers ll pivoted on a shaft 39. The rear ends of thekey levers have upward extensions ll providedwith differential slots IIthat control the indexing of the indicator and registering mechanismswhich have not been shown, these parts and their manner of operationbeing explained in detail in said Pasinski patent.

The printing mechanism includes a plurality of type-carrying members inthe form of type wheels I9 rotatably mounted on a shaft l9, as bestshown in Fig. 2. The three lower order type wheels are used for itemprinting and will be called item type wheels for purposes of conveniencein description. The four higher order type wheels are used in printingtotals and these will be called "extra type wheels. When the v wheelsare in normal position as shown in g. 2, the item type wheels have their"0's at the printing line while the extra type wheels have blank spacesat said printing line. The item type wheels only are indexed by the itemkeys during item-printing operations, but all the type wheels areindexed under the control of the registering mechanism in total taking,as described in said copending application Serial No.

Printing occurs on a paper strip P (Figs. 1 and 5)- which passes from apaper supply roll 10 (Fig. 5), under a shaft I6, about a stationaryshaft H, over a stationary paper table 12, and

over a stationary shaft 13 to a storage roll H. The supply and storagerolls are carried by a pair of bell cranks l5 and 16 (Fig. 5), pivotedon a shaft ll carried by the side plates ll of the paper section.Normally, these rolls'occupy the position shown in Fig. 1, but, when themachine is operated, either in item entering or in total taking, therolls are rocked counterclockwise in Fig. 1, to slide the paper strip Pover the table 12 and the guides" and 73 from a position where the lastentry is visible to a printing position, a line-spacing operationoccurring automatically under the control of the pawl 18 (Fig. 1). As

the machine operation is completed, the rolls are returned clockwise tonormal to bring the currently printed figure to a visible position. Themechanism for moving the paper is as follows:

The rear upwardly extending ends II of the amount key levers II arepositioned immediately behind a universal bail ll carried by arms H mrocked forward. Positioned in front of said uni versal bail are a pairof arms 31 and 38 carrying a bail 36, the arm 31 being best shown inFig. 3. The arms 31 and 38, together with the ball 36 are urgedclockwise to normal by a spring 42 (Fig. 1) attached at one end to astud 43 on the arm 38 and at its other end to a stud M on a stationarycross shaft 46. The ball 36 is positioned in a slot 80 in an operatingarm 6! pivoted on a stud 82 carried by one of the side plates of themachine. The arm 8| has a cam slot 83 cooperating with a roller stud B4on the bell crank Hi. When an amount key is depressed and the universalbail M moved forward, the bafl 36 is moved forward also. As the bail 26moves forward, it rocks the arm 8| clockwise and the latter, in turn,rocks the bell cranks I5 and 16 counterclockwise to move the paper stripP to printing position. When the item key is'released, the bail 86 isreturned to normal by the springs 42, and the arm 8! is rockedcounterclockwise to restore the bell cranks l5 and 18, together with thestorage and supply rolls and the paper strip, to normal. Thepapersupporting and moving mechanism comprises a detachable unit carriedby the side plates I! which are detachably hooked over the shaft l9(Fig. 1). This unit is described in more detail in said copendingapplication Serial No. 147,430.

For the purpose of taking totals, a total-taking lever 55 has beenprovided (Fig. 1). This lever is pivoted at 56 and, when it is pulledforward. the connection between the amount keys and the registeringmechanism is disabled and all the type wheels are indexedunder thecontrol of said registering mechanism, as disclosed in said copendingapplication Serial No. 147,429. Movement of the total-taking lever alsoshifts the paper strip through connections as follows:

Pivoted to the total lever 58 (Fig. 1) is a link 51 having a slot 59 inits rear end in which is positioned a stud 60 on the arm 31 (Fig. 3).This slot is of such a length that it does not interfere with theforward movement of the arm 31 when the latter is moved by depression ofan amount key. When the total-taking lever is pulled forward (Fig. 1),the link 5'! is pulled forward with it and said link, acting on the stud56.

' ply and storage rolls will be moved as heretofore explained and thepaper will be shifted from visible to printing position and return.

Printing impressions are made on the paper strip P by the action of aprinting hammer l8 (Fig. 1) having a platen face 22, which hammer isdriven into engagement with the paper strip,

' whereupon the latter is driven against a ribbon R that, in turn,contacts the type faces of the indexed type wheels Is. The ribbon R iscarried by a frame 90 detachably hooked over a shaft 9| carried by theside plates of the machine. The

frame supports ribbon spools 92 and 93, and the ribbon is moved step bystep by a lever 64 (Fig. 1). a suitable ribbon reverse being provided.The

' ribbon mounting and operation are described in more detail in saidcopending application Serial The printing hammer mechanism, with whichthe present invention is more particularly concerned, is illustrated inits normal, inactive position in Fig. 1, said position being also shownin the dot-dash position of Fig. 6 marked normal. It comprises theprinting hammer l8 which is in the form of a bail carried by supportingarms ll pivoted at It to the side plates ll of the paper section. Theplaten face 22 is preferably made of rubber and it extends across all ofthe type wheels, said platen hammer being positioned to strike the typewheels along a line which is called the printing line. The right hammerarm it has an upwardly extending portion 24 (Fig. 2) at its rearward andcarrying a stud 28 to which one end of a spring M is connected. Theother end of spring 2| is connected under tension to a stud 21 on theside plate E1. The tension of the spring 2i is such that the face 22 ofthe hammer is maintained a slight distance above the type faces 23 ofthe printing wheel I! when in normal or inactive position.

The printing hammer is cocked by tensioning the spring 2| and this isaccomplished by the forward movement of the ball 36 (Figs. 1 and 5),which bail is moved forward, as previously explained, during eachoperation of the machine, no matter whether it is an item-entering or atotaling operation. The right-hand arm H of the hammer ball has adownwardly and rearwardly extending finger 28 (Fig. 1), from the side ofwhich a square stud 26 projects into position to be engaged by thenotched end I! of an arm 32 pivoted on the bail 26 and urged clockwisebya spring 32 against a limit stud 34 (Fig. 1) on one of the side platesH of the paper section.

In item-entering operations, depression of one of the amount keys rocksthe corresponding key lever H counterclockwise, which moves the ball llforward and the latter, in turn, moves the ball 36 forward. The arm 32is thereby moved forward so that its notched end engages stud 29 of theflngei--28 of the right hammer arm I. As the depression of the key II iscontinued, the arm lever 32 is moved farther forward to move the fingerportion 28 of the hammer forward and clockwise. This causes the hammerarms II and the hammer l8 V to be rocked clockwise about pivot l6 whichraises-the hammer ll away from the printing wheels is. Simultaneouslythe stud 26 is moved to a greater distance away from the stud 21 andtensions the spring-.2! to a greater extent and causes the spring 2| toextend in a more nearly vertical position from that illustrated in Fig.-1 to that in Fig. 5. As the hammer l8 approaches its raised position asshown in Fig. 5, and as shown in. dot-dash lines marked Item entering inFig. 6, the stud II of the rearwardly extending arm 33, of the sideplate I! moves into a cam slot formed by a hooked portion 35 on the arm32, which causes the arm to be rocked counterclockwise to disengage itsnotched end 3| from the stud 29.

Upon said disengagement, the hammer I8 is released from its raisedposition and it descends in a counterclockwise direction under the urgeof spring 2| toward the paper strip P. As the printing hammer I 8descends counterclockwise to printing position, its momentum is suchthat it continues to move beyond or through its normal Fig. 1 positionagainst the urge of the spring 2| to printing position until its rubbercontact portion 22 engages the paper P which lies between the ribbon Rand the type faces 23, and said hammer forces the paper against the typefaces with a sharp hammer-like blow or impact. After aaoaoso .the paper,which would cause double printing and smudging. Means has been providedto prevent this but, before describing it, the operation of the printinghammer in total taking will be explained.

In total printing, the forward movement of the total lever rocks thebail 36 forward as in\ item-printing operations, and the printing hammer is cocked as heretofore explained. However, in total printing,provision has been made for operating the hammer with greater forcebecause, in this operation, the platen strikes the .type faces of allseven type wheels, whereas, in item printing, only the type faces of thethree item type wheels are struck. The diil'erent imi pressions areshown on the sample of work illustrated in Fig. 4. In order that theprinting force per unit area of each type may be the same in both itemand total printing, the hammer must .be fired with a greater force intotal printing than in item printing.

Referring to Fig. 1, the total lever 55 is provided with a forwardlyextending finger 63 which, when the total lever is rocked forward.engages an arm 65 of a three-armed lever 64 pivoted on the shaft Hi.This three-armed lever is shown most clearly in Figs. 2, 3 and 6, thelever being viewed from the opposite side in Figs. 2 and 3 from what itis in Figs. 1, 4, and 6. The threearmed lever 64 has an upwardlyextending arm 66 positioned to engage a stud 68 on one of the arms ll ofthe printing hammer bail it. The third arm 61 carries a stud 69 to whichis attached the spring whose other end is attached to a stud H on one ofthe plates I! of the paper section. The spring 10 maintains thethreearmed lever in its normal position with the arm 66 engaging thestud 88.

As the total-taking lever 55 is moved forward, the bail 36 is movedforward and the arm 32 cooks the printing hammer as previouslyexplained. However, before the arm 32 is disengaged from the stud 29 torelease the hammer, the projection 63 on the total lever 55 engages thearm 65 of the three-armed lever 64 and rocks it clockwise as viewed inFigs. 1, 5 and 6, which would be counterclockwise in Figs. 2 and 3. Thethreearmed member 64, engaging the stud 68, picks up the printing hammerand rocks it farther clockwise to the dot-dash position marked Totalingin Fig. 6. As the printing hammer reaches this position, the projection63 passes oil the arm 85, thereby releasing the printing hammer which isfired to printing position with an increased force as against the forcewith which it is fired in itementering operations.

In both item and total-printing operations, the printing hammer l8 movesquickly to printing position to give printing impressions by impactprinting as distinguished from pressure or squeeze operations, afterwhich it is pulled backward a slight distance toward its normalposition. The momentum of the hammer tends to make it rebound to causedouble printing or smudging and the present invention provides a verysimple and effective means to overcome this for both item and totalprinting, even though the force of printing impression is different inthe two cases.

Located at the forward side of the spring 2| intermediate its ends andadapted to engage the same is a stud 50 carried by the right side plateII. This stud 50' is so positioned in relation to the spring 2| as toengage the spring II on its forward side when the hammer II in itsdescent to printing position is at approximately its normal Fig. 1position, 'i. e. with the hammer face slightly removed from the typefaces; This stud 50 affects the spring action in the following manner toprevent rebound of the hammer.

As the printing hammer it moves counterclockwise toward printingposition from its cocked 'of the spring 2| acts as a dampener or snubberbecause the angular swing of the spring 2i is .restricted by itsengagement with the stud It.

That is,.placing the stud in the path of the spring increases thedistance the spring must stretch between its two ends which are securedto the studs 50 and 26 and thereby increases the tension of the springover what it would be without the stud during the final portion ofhammer movement. The hammer by this time, however, has attainedsufficient momentum during its counterclockwise descent so as tocontinue the remaining distance, against the now clockwise urge of thespring 2i, to the type wheels and to strike the same with sumcientforce. After the printing blow has been struck, the hammer I8 is pulled.upwardly to normal position by the spring particularlybecause of theincreased tension of the spring caused by the stud 50.

As the hammer moves upward, it tends to move past its normal positionand any movement upward past normal tends to tension the spring 21. Whenthe momentum of the hammer in the upward direction has been overcome,the tension of the spring tends to again move the hammer downward towardthe type wheels, the force being, of course, less than during theinitial descent because the spring 2| has not been cooked to any greatextent. But any movement of the hammer past its normal position must beagainst the short portion of the spring between the stud 50 and the stud28, and the tensioning of this portion. of the spring requiresconsiderably more force than if the long spring simply had to betensioned a small amount. Consequently, the tendency of the hammer tomove past normal position toward printing position is resisted to anextent such that double printing or smudging is prevented and the hammeris quickly brought to normal position without any substantial rebound.

Although the foregoing description has set forth one form of printingmechanism, it will be understood that changes and modifications may beresorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the inventionas defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the class described comprisinga plurality oi printingmembers, a movable printing hammer adapted to strike said printingmembers, a spring adapted when tensioned to urge said printing hammertoward said printing members, means for moving said hammer away fromsaid printing members to tension said spring, -means for releasing saidlatter means to permit the hammer to move under urge of said springtoward said printing members and to strike said printing members, andmeans for resisting rebound movements of said hammer to prevent saidhammer from restriking said printing members.

2. In a machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said printing members, a spring adapted when tensioned to urgesaid printing hammer toward said printing members, means for rockingsaid hammer away from said printing members to tension said spring,means for releasing said latter means to permit the hammer to rock underurge of. said spring toward said printing members and to strike saidprinting members, and means acting upon said spring to resist reboundmovements of said hammer to prevent the latter from restriking saidprinting members.

3. In a machine of the class described compris ing a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said printing members, a spring adapted when tensioned to urgesaid printing hammer toward said printing members, means for rockingsaid hammer away from said printing members to tension said spring,means for: releasing said latter means to permit the hammer to rockunder urge of said spring toward said printing members and to strikesaid printing members, and means cooperating with said spring toincrease its effect upon said printing hammer to resist reboundmovements of said hammer to prevent the latter from restriking saidprinting members.

4. In a machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said printing members, a spring adapted to maintain said hammerin normal position with respect to said printing members, means forrocking said hammer from normal position in a direction away from saidprinting members, means for releasing said latter means to permit saidhammer to be rocked by said spring toward said printing members toprinting position and to strike said printing members, and means adaptedto engage said spring member intermediate its ends to increase thetension of said spring when said hammer is rocked to printing position,the increase in said tension being efiective to retract said hammer fromprinting position and to prevent said hammer from restriking saidprinting members.

5. In a machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said 1 iii members beyond normal position to printing positionand to strike said printing members, and means adapted to engage saidspring member intermediate its ends to increase the tension of saidspring when said hammer is rocked from normal to printing position, saidincreased tension being effective to retract said hammer from printingto normal position and to prevent said hammer from restriking saidprinting members.

6. In a machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said printing members, a spring adapted to maintain said hammerin normal position with respect to said printing members and to Opposerocking movements of said hammer from normal position, means for rockingsaid hammer from normal position in a direction away from said printingmembers, means for releasing said latter means to permit said hammer tobe rocked by said spring toward said printing members and beyond normalposition to printing position to strike said printing members, anddeflecting means adapted to engage said spring intermediate its ends toincrease the tension of. said spring member when said hammer is rockedfrom normal to printing position, said increased tension being effectiveto return said hammer from printing to normal position and to preventsaid hammer from restriking said printing members.

7. In a machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said printing members, a spring adapted to maintain said hammerin normal position with respect to said printing members and to opposerocking movements 01 said hammer from normal position, means for rockingsaid hammer from normal position in a direction away from said printingmembers, means for releasing said latter means to permit said hammer tobe rocked by said spring toward said printing members and beyond normalposition to printing position to strike said printing members, and afixed stud adapted to be engaged by said spring intermediate the ends ofsaid spring when said hammer is rocked from normal to printing positionby said spring so as to prevent said hammer from restriking saidprinting members.

8. In a machine of the class described comprising a plurality ofprinting members, a pivotally supported printing hammer adapted tostrike said printing members, a spring adapted to maintain said hammerin normal position with respect to said printing members and to opposerocking movements of said hammer from normal position, means for rockingsaid hammer from normal position in a direction away from said printingmembers to tension said spring, means for releasing said latter means topermit said hammer to be rocked by said spring member toward saidprinting members and beyond normal position to printing position tostrike said printing members, and a stud positioned to engage the sideof said spring intermediate its ends and deflect said spring when saidhammer is rocked from normal to printing position, said spring whendeflected being adapted to retract said hammer from printing to normalposition to prevent said hammer from restriking said printing members.

WALTER. J. PASINSKI.

